For microscopic investigations, the samples to be investigated are cut with the aid of microtomes into very thin slices called “thin sections.” The thin sections are then placed onto specimen slides and are coverslipped, using coverslipping machines, with a coverslipping medium and a coverslipping element; once the coverslipping medium is dry, they can then be conveyed to a microscope for microscopy. The coverslipping elements used here are on the one hand glass coverslips in the form of thin glass wafers, or alternatively tapes.
The handling of glass wafers and of tapes in the context of coverslipping is fundamentally different, so that correspondingly different coverslipping modules must be used therefor. With known coverslipping machines the customer must decide, upon purchase, whether he or she wishes to have a coverslipping machine for coverslipping with glass wafers, or a coverslipping machine for coverslipping with tapes. With many machines, subsequent conversion is not possible at all or requires considerable outlay, since the coverslipping machine must be sent for that purpose to the manufacturing company's customer service department, which must laboriously rebuild it.